The 5-Star Analysis Tutorial (originally written by Aaron Price as part of the Citizen Sky Project, but re-written by Paul York in June 2014) is meant to introduce you to basic ways of data processing and inspection. It does not assume a background in astrophysics, statistics or anything similar. However, all good researchers need to understand what their data actually mean.

One of the things that makes AAVSO citizen science projects unique is that the data analysis stage is also open to anyone. AAVSO members and observers aren't asked to simply to collect data for scientists to analyse, but they can do some analysis themselves. This includes steps such as identifying a project/problem/goal, collecting data, performing quality control procedures on it, analysing it and communicating results to others.